Method and apparatus for improved connection of wireless devices using third party programming capability

ABSTRACT

Provided are a method and an apparatus for searching neighboring Bluetooth® devices through an external terminal having programming capability. The inventive method provides for a slave Bluetooth® device to receive, from the external terminal, the MAC address and optional device name from a target Bluetooth® device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improved Bluetooth® device searchand connect process. More particularly, the inventive process forBluetooth® pairing may be performed with a third party terminal that hasprogramming capability. The third party terminal will make a list ofneighboring Bluetooth® devices and will provide the list to a pairing(slave) device. Neighboring Bluetooth® device lists may be composed byusing either a “third party terminal” Bluetooth® capability, oralternatively, through an “inquiring device” (e.g., pairing) Bluetooth®capability, whereby an inquiring device uses a list of neighboringBluetooth® devices provided by a third party to connect to otherBluetooth® devices. This third party paging invention can be applied toother wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMax, and any referenceherein to the term “Bluetooth®” is also meant to include applications toall other manner of wireless, as well as wired technologies.

2. Description of the Related Art

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects ofart that may be related to various aspects of the present invention,which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed tobe helpful in providing the reader with background information tofacilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the presentinvention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statementsare to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Wireless terminals such as computers, cell phones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), barcode scanners, printers, etc are becomingincreasingly useful among consumers and within industry. These devicesoften use Bluetooth® as a wireless technology, Bluetooth® is atechnology promoted by the Bluetooth® SIG of Kirkland, Wash., forproviding short range wireless communications that makes it possible towirelessly connect Bluetooth® enabled devices within a relatively shortrange at low cost. In Bluetooth® communication, radio frequencies areused to exchange voice and data signals between Bluetooth® deviceswithin a relatively short range without the need for physical cables.For example, when a mobile communication terminal and a laptop computerare each equipped with a Bluetooth® module, they can be wirelesslyconnected each other, i.e. without using cables. Almost all types ofdigital devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), desktopcomputers, facsimiles (FAXs), keyboards, and joysticks can utilizeBluetooth® communication if they have a Bluetooth® module.

A device having a Bluetooth® module searches neighboring Bluetooth®devices and performs a pairing process with the searched Bluetooth®device so that it can wirelessly communicate with the searchedBluetooth® device(s). The pairing process is an authentication processin which an inter-device common link key defined in the Bluetooth®interface standard is created to authenticate an inter-device commonlink. Bluetooth® functionality is widely implemented in variouselectronics, including cell phones, barcode readers, keyboards andprinters. Bluetooth® devices require paging and inquiring process toestablish connection between two Bluetooth® devices. To this end,peripheral Bluetooth® devices such as barcode scanners, keyboards,joysticks and printers are normally developed as a Bluetooth® slavedevice, without the capacity to initiate direct Bluetooth® connectionfeatures to the other Bluetooth® devices (whether master devices such asa PC, a PDA, or slave devices such as the illustrative barcode scanners,keyboards, joysticks and printers.) However, users of these peripheral(slave) Bluetooth® devices may nevertheless need to initiate aconnection to other Bluetooth® devices directly sometimes, but cannot doso in the current art of Bluetooth® enabled electronic devices.

Furthermore, certain Bluetooth® enabled electronic devices arestructured so as to magnify the above problem further. For example, onepopular electronic device in use today is the Apple iPhone®, which isavailable from Apple, Inc., of Cupertino, Calif. As evidence of theaforementioned additional difficulties encountered in the known art, theApple iPhone® does not even provide page (search) and inquiry (connect)function for these peripheral devices. This is because the Apple iPhone®and some other proprietary devices differ in an additional aspect.Specifically, typical (e.g., non-iPhone®) connecting Bluetooth® devices(master devices such as PCs and PDAs) provide rudimentary Bluetooth®manager software. This software allows for the master device to searchneighboring Bluetooth® devices (Bluetooth® calls this process as“pairing”), and permits a user to select a device to connect (Bluetooth®calls this process as “inquiring”), such that a connected device may berequested to enter a PIN to connecting device and thereafter, the twodevices are connected if the PIN matches. Unfortunately, however,iPhone® has blocked the ability to list peripheral/neighboringBluetooth® devices (except for a nominal Bluetooth® headset) during itssearch process, and as such, does not support any other manner ofBluetooth® enabled devices, thus slave and other devices cannot performa connection.

Thus, full, reciprocal connectivity between all manner of peripheralBluetooth® devices (whether barcode scanners, printers, keyboards andjoysticks) and all types of master Bluetooth® devices remains elusivebecause one simply cannot initiate either the pairing and/or inquiringprocess given the lack of either programming features, or due to thelack of displays for controlling the pairing and the inquiry (inquiring)process. Further to this point, and as alluded to above, peripheralBluetooth® devices typically lack either programming capability ordisplay functions such that a paged (searched) device list cannot becontrolled in proper manner, despite the fact that this is a very commonBluetooth® manager function that exists (for non-iPhone® typeconnections) on most non-peripheral (master) Bluetooth® terminals.Because of this, if a user needs to select a Bluetooth® device toinquire from paged (searched) list, it is not a trivial task (from theperipheral Bluetooth® device perspective) to provide the searched listand to allow for the user to select a device from a list. Morespecifically, this is also because there is a lack of either programmingcapability, or because of a lack of input and output capability such asbuttons, display, visible light, display, speakers, or other externalcommunication ports.

Accordingly, prior art systems, as described below (each of which ishereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties) merelytry to achieve efficient way connecting two Bluetooth® devices and donot address the deficiencies described above. For example, US patentpublication number 2008/0076389, titled “An Automatic Pairing Method fora Bluetooth®-Enabled Mobile Terminal” purportedly proposes an automaticparing and connection method using additional authentication signalsthat are defined between devices, whereby the two devices reportedlycheck whether they are “automatic pairing and connection enabled”devices (such as Samsung phone and Samsung headset) and performautomatic pairing and connection process without standard user involvedpaging and inquiring procedure. Similarly, US patent publication number2007/0197164, titled “Method and Device for Automatic Bluetooth®pairing” purportedly defines a device connection method wherein a slavedevice tries to connect master device if there is a connected historystored therein. Also, US patent publication number 2005/0220221, titled“Identifying a local device by name” supposedly proposes maintaining aBluetooth® device name locally in order to speed up inquiring process soas to focus on searching and connection method of slave devices. To thisend, users of Bluetooth® enabled electronic devices of all kinds (notjust the illustrative iPhone®), are in need of a way to connect directlyto peripheral/neighboring Bluetooth® devices, with or without anadditional authentication process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is therefore to substantially solveat least the above-described problems and/or disadvantages ofconventional systems, and to provide at least the advantages detailedbelow. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide amethod and an apparatus for peripheral Bluetooth® devices peripheral(slave) Bluetooth® devices, such as barcode scanners, keyboards,joysticks and printers to perform paging and inquiring process withthird party terminal support.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and anapparatus for inquiring (connecting) neighboring Bluetooth® devicesthrough the use of an additional authentication processor duringconnection process, which can enhance the security of wirelesscommunication between devices. Certain Bluetooth® devices require anadditional authentication process which is not defined in Bluetooth®standard protocol, and to this end, the present invention can providefor the inquiring (connecting) devices to detect the needs of additionalauthentication processor automatically during the inquiring (connecting)process, and can perform an additional authentication process if a givenneighboring Bluetooth® device requires an extra authentication processin order to be connected.

According to one aspect of the present invention, this invention definesa Bluetooth® connection method for Bluetooth® peripherals using internalor external terminal with programming capability. These inventivemethods may provide for various paging and inquiring options asdescribed below according to this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1A is a process diagram illustrating a download of a Bluetooth® MACaddress into an illustrative Bluetooth® peripheral device;

FIG. 1B is a process diagram illustrating an illustrative Bluetooth®connection process from a Bluetooth® peripheral device and a targetBluetooth® device;

FIG. 1C is a process diagram illustrating Bluetooth® Page(Search) andInquiry(Connect) Process with Optional Authentication Process;

FIG. 2 is a process diagram illustrating Bluetooth® Page(Search),Inquiry(Connect), Download and Connect Process using third partyterminal with programming capability;

FIG. 3 is a process diagram illustrating Connecting Bluetooth® Devicewith Authentication Function;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a Connecting (Slave) Bluetooth®Device may connect with a neighboring Bluetooth® target device (with orwithout an external terminal, through the illustrative Page, Inquiry andAuthentication Functions; and

FIG. 5 is a depiction of on illustrative screen shot from the describedexemplary software which a user might utilize in manually entering aBluetooth® MAC, PIN, Prefix, Suffix Search, etc. of a neighboringBluetooth® target device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed below. In an effort to provide a concise description of theseembodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are describedin the specification. It should be appreciated that in the developmentof any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or designproject, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made toachieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance withsystem-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from oneimplementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that sucha development effort might be complex and time consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, andmanufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of thisdisclosure.

Accordingly, the present invention introduces a new system and methodthat uniquely paging (searching) and inquiring (connecting) Bluetooth®devices with additional authentication process. To this end, the presentinvention introduces a method whereby peripheral Bluetooth® devices canconnect to other Bluetooth® devices directly, with an optionalauthentication process using third party terminal with programmingcapability. When provisioned in accordance with the particularsdisclosed herein, Bluetooth® peripheral devices can become a master(connecting) device, despite the fact that they do not have either thenative programming capability or the native output function, such asdisplay or sound.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided, at the broadest level, a system and method for the provisionof communication across a plurality of wireless devices in amultiplicity of communication environments comprising: A method (and adevice having at least a memory unit configured to store instructionsrelating to the execution of the present method, and a processorconfigured to execute the instructions for executing instructions forutilizing the present method), for providing improved wirelessconnection using third party programming capability, wherein the methodcomprises the steps of: (a) determining whether at least one slavedevice needs to connect to an external terminal in order to perform asearch and connect function of at least one neighboring Bluetooth®target device(s); (b) connecting, when the at least one slave deviceneeds to connect to an external terminal in order to perform a searchand connect function of the at least one neighboring Bluetooth® targetdevice(s), to said external terminal; (c) determining whether there is aneed to search for the at least one neighboring Bluetooth® targetdevice(s); (d) entering, when there is no need to search for saidneighboring Bluetooth® target device(s), at least one of the followingcomprising a MAC address, PIN code and a device name of the at least oneneighboring Bluetooth® target device(s) manually; (e) generating, whenthere is no need to search for the at least one neighboring Bluetooth®target device, lists of available said at least one neighboringBluetooth® target device(s) at the external terminal where the slavedevice and said external terminal are connected, and generating lists ofavailable the at least one neighboring Bluetooth® target device(s) andthe slave device where the slave device has not connected to saidexternal terminal; (f) selecting the at least one neighboring Bluetooth®target device(s) for connection; (g) defining connection options withthe at least one neighboring Bluetooth® target device(s), including atleast one automatic or manual connection option; and (h) executing aconnection between the slave device and the at least one neighboringBluetooth® target device(s) based upon the at least one automatic ormanual connection option. The method of above may further comprise thesteps for: determining whether said at least one neighboring Bluetooth®device(s) requires authentication; and for executing, where said atleast one neighboring Bluetooth® device(s) requires authentication,authentication between said slave device and said at least oneneighboring Bluetooth® target device(s). In addition, the above methodof claim may also comprising the steps of: reading a MAC address and PINnumber from the at least one neighboring target Bluetooth® devicethrough the use of at least a barcode reader or an optical characterreader. To this end, the above inventive approaches may also be embodiedin a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon aprogram for use on a slave wireless device for detecting and connectingwith a neighboring wireless device comprising code segments forexecuting each of the above describing steps within the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 1A, in one embodiment of the present invention,is provided for a download of at least one MAC address into a Bluetooth®peripheral device. Specifically, the inventive aspect in this regardmight illustratively commence with a connection of a Bluetooth® enableddevice to an external terminal such as a PC or PDA, either using a cablesuch as a serial or USB, or wireless connection such as Wi-Fi orBluetooth®, as seen 101. Target Bluetooth® MAC address and optionalBluetooth® device name can be either entered manually (see, FIG. 5 forillustrative depiction thereof) or may be selected using Bluetooth®device search program, as seen at 103. At 105, the external third-partyterminal execute a Bluetooth® device search program to find a targetBluetooth® device MAC address by either using a terminal deviceBluetooth® function or connected inquiring Bluetooth® device Bluetooth®function. A searched Bluetooth® device list would be uploaded to theterminal (e.g., a PC, PDA, etc.) if a connecting Bluetooth® peripheraldevice Bluetooth® function is used to search neighboring Bluetooth®devices. At 107, the target Bluetooth® device is selected from thesearch list at 105. At 109, target Bluetooth® device MAC address andoptional Bluetooth® device name is assigned manually. AT 111, optionalconnection methods are defined. At 113, there is a download of a MACaddress from an external third party terminal using a MAC addressdownload program. At 115, an inquiring Bluetooth® device executes aBluetooth® connection to a target Bluetooth® device using a stored MACaddress from an external terminal. In 117, and the connection processwould be executed by either powering on a peripheral Bluetooth® device,or by a combination of device keys.

Additional sensors such as a bar code reader or proximity or motionsensors can also be used to initiate a connection sequence. Theconnection process may be seen in FIG. 1B. Beginning with 102, aninquiring Bluetooth® device starts the connecting process to the targetBluetooth® device. Thereafter, an inquiring Bluetooth® device tries toconnect to the registered MAC address. If there is no registered MACaddress, warning signal would be generated at 104. 106, a Bluetooth®connection status is indicated by sound, vibration, visible light, ordisplay of a message. Multiple Bluetooth® connection processes would beexecuted, if needed at 106. At 108, after a Bluetooth® connection isestablished a Bluetooth® peripheral device may perform additionalprocesses, such as an authentication to set up a secure connectionbetween devices. With reference then, to FIG. 1C, a Bluetooth® device tobe connected (100) interfaces with a connecting Bluetooth® device (110)through the following illustrative steps: page (120), respond (130),inquiry (140), respond (150), authenticate request (160), authenticationgrant (170), and connection (180).

Turning then, to FIG. 2, is a depiction of a Bluetooth® page (Search),inquiry (Connect), download and connect process using a third-partyterminal with programming capability. As can be seen therein, a terminalwith programming capability (200), may at (230) download a neighboringBluetooth® device list to a connecting Bluetooth® device (240), after ithas executed the steps of page (210), respond (211), and generate anavailable Bluetooth® device list (212) with neighboring Bluetooth®devices 1-n (220). Either with a download from the terminal programmingcapability or from a self generated list, connecting Bluetooth® device(240) can utilize a connection generated natively (or with the help ofterminal with programming capability (200)), so as to connect withneighboring Bluetooth® target devices 1-n (220) by generating an inquirystep (250), a response step (251), and a resulting connection (252).Note that a connecting Bluetooth® device (240) may be either a slave(peripheral) device, such as a printer, phone, joystick, hand heldscanner, etc., and would need to be downloaded with Bluetooth®management software such as the KTSync™ software described herein, ormay be a unit such as the illustrative KDC™ 200 type unit (alsodescribed herein) which already has built in Bluetooth® managementsoftware therein. The terminal with programming capability (200) may beany type of Bluetooth® enabled device, such as a PC or PDA with KTSync™type software downloaded into it, or a KDC™ 200 type unit, both of whichare available from KoamTac™ Inc., of Princeton, N.J. It is worth noting,that, one generally would need to include a terminal with programmingcapability at 200 if the slave (peripheral device does not have theability to function with/without KTSync™ type software downloadedtherein, and/or with a KDC™ type unit. This is especially true in caseswhere the neighboring Bluetooth® target device requires authentication.If there is no authentication scheme, it may be possible to dispensewith a KDC™ type unit, and may function with only a PC or PDA that hasKTSync™-type software downloaded to it (this may be the case where theneighboring Bluetooth® target device is a RIM Blackberry® or MicrosoftWindows® mobile device which typically does not require additionalauthentication other than entering PIN, unlike an iPhone® which doesrequire an additional authentication process.

With attention to FIG. 3, an illustrative diagram is depicted of aconnecting (slave) Bluetooth® device with an authentication function. Asseen therein, controller 300 and connected to memory 306, interface 302,authentication processor 304, buzzer 308, buttons 310, display 312, andBluetooth® module 314. Under the control of a controller 300, aBluetooth® enabled device searches for connectable neighboringBluetooth® devices and performs a pairing operation on the searchedneighboring Bluetooth® devices to acquire the addresses and name-relatedindicia of the searched neighboring Bluetooth® devices.

FIG. 4 depicts a high level diagram of the aforementioned functions andprocesses, as well overall general page, inquiry, and authenticationprocess flow of the present invention. Specifically, decision box 400 isan assessment as to whether you need to connect to an external terminal.If there is a need to an external terminal (410), then the process flowwill initiate a search of neighboring Bluetooth® devices at 412, ifneeded. If there is no need to search neighboring Bluetooth® devices, atstep 414, process will manually enter a MAC address and device name fora target Bluetooth® device. If there is a need to search neighboringBluetooth® devices at step 416, then the external terminal lists allavailable Bluetooth® devices so that a user may select one or moretarget Bluetooth® devices. Similarly, there is no need to connect to anexternal terminal a decision will be made at step 420 as to whetherthere is a need to search neighboring Bluetooth® devices. If there is noneed to search neighboring Bluetooth® devices, then a user may manuallyenter the MAC address and name of a given Bluetooth® device at 422: Ifthere is a need to search a neighboring Bluetooth® device, then theconnecting device lists all available Bluetooth® devices so that a usermay select a given target Bluetooth® device at 424. Thereafter, thevarious connection options are defined at 430. In step 440, the selectedconnection process is executed. At step 450, the slave and targetBluetooth® devices (typically joysticks, keyboards, printers, etc.) areconnected (or if there is a failure in connection is indicated at step495, which is a general Bluetooth® failure indication that may stem fromcauses such as a PIN failure match, etc.). At step 460, there is anassessment as to whether the selected connection requires authentication(typically iPhone® and other secure connection based devices). If noauthentication is required (typically Microsoft Windows® based mobiledevices, RIM Blackberry® devices, etc.), then success indication is madeat 490. If authentication is required (typically iPhone® mobile devices,etc.) then an assessment is made as to whether the authentication ispassed at step 470. If it is not passed, then connection failureindication is made at 480 (may nevertheless be successfully connected toa non-secure device, as well). It is authentication has passed at 470,then a (secure) connection success indication is made at 485.

By way of illustration only, the above may be further understood incontext of the following example which describes one exemplary set ofdevices that may be employed for the purposes of either the externalterminal and/or the slave (connecting) device. Such devices may bevarious devices such as hand-held scanners such as the KDC™ 200available from KoamTac™ Inc., of Princeton, N.J., any of which areexemplary peripheral devices that may desire to connect to a host suchas an iPhone® or other Bluetooth® enabled device. If the KDC™ hand-heldscanner is not employed, then the searching and connecting software ofthe KDC™ device, also sold as software by the name of KTSync™ (alsoavailable from KoamTac™ Inc., of Princeton, N.J.), may be downloadedinto the external terminal and/or the slave (connecting) device asneeded in order to effectuate the functionality described herein.Although the present invention is primarily described in terms ofwireless embodiments (e.g., “Bluetooth® enabled devices”), it is alsoimportant to note that wired (USB wired connections, RS232, etc.)embodiments are also possible, and are considered within the scope ofthis invention, with or without complete Bluetooth® functionality.Whatever the variations thereof that might be paired with the inventive,the additional functionality and particulars described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. Nos. 12/005,470 (filed Dec. 27, 2007), 12/383,978(filed Mar. 31, 2009), and 12/384,022 (filed Mar. 31, 2009) may beconsidered herein, and to that end, the specifications of theseapplications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirrespective entireties.

Alternatively, other devices may be used in place of the aforementionedexternal terminal and/or the slave (connecting) device. Suchpossibilities may include the following (1) for the described “terminalwith programming capability” one might choose devices from the groupcomprising PCs, PDAs, bar code scanners (e.g., KDC™ 200, etc.), phones,and other devices, preferably wherein said devices have the following:(a) search functionality; (b) display means (including text to speech,user prompt function, etc.); (c) user input functionality (e.g., theability to select device to connect such as voice recognition); and/or(d) communication functionality (e.g., ability to download a targetdevice MAC to a connecting device, like the KDC™ or other device).Likely master devices (besides the aforementioned iPhone® or otherphone) might include some variant of a master—Bluetooth® hub (such asthe illustrative KDC™ 200 or other device), and a slave, such as aBluetooth® printer, joystick, etc. One illustrative example (out of manypossibilities) of an illustrative relationship might be shown with amultifunction printer, wherein a user need not connect a scanner and aprinter to (via) a PC, and accordingly, the scanner and printer can workdirectly without PC to copy or print a document (e.g., the KDC™ (masterhub) can connect to Bluetooth® printer and send a print command directlywithout going through any PC.).

In any case, the following details an illustrative paging (also calledsearching) function of the various Bluetooth® enabled devices workingtogether within the overall concept of the present invention. The firstvariant of Paging (Searching) of a Bluetooth® device involves the use ofwhat is termed an “internal programming capability” case. In this case,an illustrative KDC™ (or other peripheral (slave) device with built inBluetooth® management software, etc.) utilizes its software to page aneighboring Bluetooth® using an internal paging (searching) function. Indoing so, the MAC addresses of a given target Bluetooth® devices wouldbe stored in connecting Bluetooth® peripheral memory. This case isemployed where an internal Bluetooth® device search capability isavailable in the peripheral (slave) device. Thereafter, a PIN code canbe entered if needed using keypad, buttons or other input methods, suchas voice recognition. Alphanumeric characters would be displayed from“0” to “9” and “A” to “Z” sequentially or in some predefined order, ifthe connecting device has a display and more than one button.Alternatively, variant of Paging (Searching) of a Bluetooth® deviceinvolves the use of what is termed an “external programming capability”case. In this case, an illustrative KTSync™ Bluetooth® managementsoftware running on external terminal would be used for searching andlisting neighborhood Bluetooth® (target) devices. Thereafter, the MACaddresses and PIN of the target Bluetooth® device(s) would be downloadedto the connecting Bluetooth® peripheral (slave) device memory from theexternal terminal with programming capability via cable such as serialor USB, or through wireless means such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®.Thereafter, and regardless of the preferred device set up(s) provisionedabove, connection (inquiry) may be made as further described herein. Tothis end, the inventive method would also include various connectionoptions which can manage the connection process more efficiently.Illustrative Inquiring (Connecting) processes might be depicted whereina given Bluetooth® peripheral device would perform a Bluetooth®connection process by various methods including: (i) Pressing a button;(ii) Executing the connection process automatically upon powering on ofa given (slave) device; and/or (iii) Using additional sensors, such asbarcode scanner, camera function or proximity sensor to initiate theconnection. Note that one may also contemplate defining a MAC addressplus a PIN as a predefined special barcode or alternative machinereadable symbol. Within this particular realm, a connecting device couldeven extract a MAC address and PIN number from a target Bluetooth®device through this special barcode, and/or through alternative machinereadable symbols such as OCR fonts, as well as from printed charactersand special symbols (any kind of characters or symbols that may bedisplayed on the display of the give device), either printed on aseparate media such as a paper, or as displayed on the target devicedisplay. Usually, one would require a hand held scanner (such as theKDC™ unit or other units described herein for barcode reading, or even adevice such as with a cell phone or PC/PDA camera with characterrecognition for non-barcode approaches) to effectuate such a variant ofthe invention. Therefore, in one additional illustrative embodiment,such software might read the barcode of the target device, and from thebarcode, extract the standard MAC address and PIN (alpha) numbers fromthe barcode sequence. Other inventive approaches might also provide fora user to simple search or enter a MAC address using (downloaded)software, such as the KTSync™ running on a PC. In yet furtheralternative embodiments, it may be desired to simply use a smallerdevice with a built in display, such as the illustrative KDC™ 200 unit,which, with its built in Bluetooth® menu for search and inquiry, mayoffer a certain ease of use for a user, depending on the desired fieldof application.

In any case, the following outlined steps may define the various aspectsof the inventive processes herein:

1. Registering a Target Bluetooth® Device

-   -   A. STEP 1: List & Modify        -   i. Provide for a user download MAC address and PIN to            connecting Bluetooth® device using an external third party            terminal Bluetooth® connection program;        -   ii. User can then browse stored MAC address in a connecting            device that has a display or text to speech function (or            other human interpretable output mechanism); and        -   iii. User can thereafter delete or change stored MAC            addresses position if user input mechanism is available            (e.g., a button, etc.).    -   B. STEP 2: Enable/Disable store MAC/PIN of paired device        -   i. Bluetooth® device would add MAC/PIN of newly paired            device if this option is enabled; and    -   C. STEP 3: Store location of newly paired device        -   i. User can select the location of newly paired device, with            priority, either to the first, to last, or a specific            position.

2. Connect Method Selection

-   -   A. POSSIBLE STEP: No Search & Manual Connect        -   i. User browses MAC address(es) and executes connection            process manually.    -   B. POSSIBLE STEP: No Search & Auto Connect        -   i. Connecting Bluetooth® device tries to connect stored MAC            address(es) one by one sequentially, or through a certain            rule based sequence.    -   C. POSSIBLE STEP: Search & Manual Connect        -   i. Connecting Bluetooth® device searches neighboring            Bluetooth® devices;        -   ii. Connecting Bluetooth® device displays MAC addresses            and/or neighboring Bluetooth® device names; and iii. User            select device to connect.    -   D. POSSIBLE STEP: Search & Auto Connect        -   i. Connecting Bluetooth® device searches available            Bluetooth® devices;        -   ii. Connecting Bluetooth® device connects to the device            registered in connecting Bluetooth® device memory; and iii.            Connection priority would be determined by predefined rule.

3. Connect Filtering Option

-   -   i. User can discriminate among connecting Bluetooth® devices        based upon various filtering options, such as MAC address range,        Bluetooth® device name, and Bluetooth® signal strength.

Any downloaded third party software such as KTSync™ can list the MACaddress(es) of available neighboring Bluetooth® devices by using searchfunction, as well as manual entry by a user. When used in conjunctionwith the KDC™ (instead of by itself with another type of Bluetooth®device), it may also download MAC address (of iPhone® and/or pin code ofother neighboring target Bluetooth® device) in order to connect to KDC™.This third party software could, in one alternative embodiment, initiatea connection by invoking the native connection function of any givenslave device in order to effectuate the above. Regardless of howprovisioned, it is further worth noting that under any givenconfiguration of software and devices, because a slave can connect to amaster under the present invention, it also implies that a slave canconnect to slave. Hence, slave devices can connect to each other, andfurthermore, a “slave” may connect to either another slave or to amaster in a chain of other types of devices, if necessary.

As stated above, there are cases (such as the illustrative iPhone® whichmay also require authentication in addition to the page and inquirysteps described herein. To that end, the present invention alsocontemplates an Additional Authentication Option. This option recognizesthe fact that certain neighboring target Bluetooth® devices cannotpermit the paging and inquiry to result in a complete connection withoutthe proper authentication. In the illustrative case of the iPhone®, onecannot communicate with an iPhone® without acquiring a proper key froman Apple authentication processor. In order to accomplish this, theillustrative KDC™ 200 unit may be used, as there is an authenticationchip located inside of KDC™ 200. However, in an alternative embodiment,one can implement either an authentication chip (e.g., an Apple iPhone®chip for an iPhone®, or the equivalent for other closed Bluetooth®systems), or alternatively, a substitute for the authentication chip inthe form of authentication software that will provide similarauthentication codes as those that might be generated by the micro-codeof the authentication chip, thereby avoiding the need to have such achip. In any case, the following steps might illustrate one example ofhow to procedurally complete the authentication process. First, aBluetooth® device that requires a secure connection (authentication),such as the Apple iPhone® (but normally not Microsoft Windows® enableddevices or RIM Blackberry® devices) would therefore necessarily utilizethe inventive Authentication option from the connecting (slave) device.The connecting device checks the existence of additional authenticationprocess (either hardware or software implementation) in the device. Theconnecting device initiates additional authentication process ifadditional authentication process if enabled, and does not initiate ifnot enabled. If, however, the device does not require a secureconnection (such is the case with normal SPP devices such as RIMBlackberry® or Microsoft Windows® based mobile), and hence, theinventive process would thereby disable this Authentication optioneither manually or automatically.

Alternate embodiments of the present invention can also comprisecomputer readable codes or code segment(s) on a computer readable mediumthat executes all of the above described approaches. The computerreadable medium includes data storage devices that can store data thatcan be read by a computer system. Examples of a computer readable mediuminclude magnetic storage media (such as ROM, floppy disks, and harddisks, among others), and optical recording media (such as CD-ROMs orDVDs). The computer readable medium can also be distributed over networkcoupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is storedand executed in a distributed fashion. In additional embodiments, it isexplicitly contemplated within the scope of the invention describedherein that it may be used in a multiplicity of wired and wirelessenvironments, over different communication protocols, includingBluetooth®, ZigBee, Wi-Fi and/or WiMax. Although the practicalapplications of the above are legion, in one embodiment the illustrativeapplication of the invention to iPhone®s may prove especially useful,but the invention is indeed susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, and accordingly, specific embodiments have been shownby way of example in the drawings and have been described in detailherein. However, it should be understood that the invention is notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by thefollowing appended claims.

1. A method for providing improved wireless connection using third partyprogramming capability, said method comprising the steps of: (a)determining whether at least one slave device needs to connect to anexternal terminal in order to perform a search and connect function ofat least one neighboring wireless target device(s); (b) connecting, whensaid at least one slave device needs to connect to an external terminalin order to perform a search and connect function of said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s), to said external terminal; (c)determining whether there is a need to search for said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s); (d) entering, when there is noneed to search for said neighboring wireless target device(s), at leastone of the following comprising a MAC address, PIN code and a devicename of said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s)manually; (e) generating, when there is a need to search for said atleast one neighboring wireless target device, lists of available said atleast one neighboring wireless target device(s) at said externalterminal where said slave device and said external terminal areconnected, and generating lists of available said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s) at said slave device where saidslave device has not connected to said external terminal; (f) selectingsaid at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) for connection;(g) defining connection options with said at least one neighboringwireless target device(s), including an automatic or manual connectionoption; (h) executing a connection between said slave device and said atleast one neighboring wireless target device(s) based upon said at leastone automatic or manual connection option; (i) determining whether saidat least one neighboring wireless target device(s) requires additionalauthentication, wherein said step of determining whether said at leastone neighboring wireless target device(s) requires additionalauthentication including a recognition as to whether said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s) is a closed system device thatprevents paging and inquiry from resulting in a complete connection; and(j) executing, where said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) requires said additional authentication, an additionalauthentication between said slave device and said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s).
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: wherein said step of determining whether said at least oneneighboring wireless device(s) requires said additional authenticationfurther comprises the step of detecting the presence of enabledadditional authentication in either hardware or software found in saidat least one wireless neighboring device(s); executing said additionalauthentication through at least one of the following of an additionalauthentication chip or additional authentication software for providingadditional authentication code to said at least one neighboring wirelessdevice(s); and disabling said additional authentication where saidpresence of enabled additional authentication is not detected.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: reading a MAC addressand PIN number from said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) through the use of at least a barcode reader or an opticalcharacter reader, wherein said step of reading further includes the stepof providing for a prefix and suffix option that executes a read of atleast one beginning or at least one ending digit of a barcode serialnumber.
 4. A wireless enabled device for providing improved wirelessconnection, said device comprising: (a) a memory unit configured tostore instructions; (b) a processor configured for executing thefollowing instructions: (c) determining whether at least one slavedevice needs to connect to an external terminal in order to perform asearch and connect function of at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s); (d) connecting, when said at least one slave device needs toconnect to an external terminal in order to perform a search and connectfunction of said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s), tosaid external terminal; (e) determining whether there is a need tosearch for said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s); (f)entering, when there is no need to search for said neighboring wirelesstarget device(s), at least one of the following comprising a MACaddress, PIN code and a device name of said at least one neighboringwireless target device(s) manually; (g) generating, when there is a needto search for said at least one neighboring wireless target device,lists of available said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) at said external terminal where said slave device and saidexternal terminal are connected, and generating lists of available saidat least one neighboring wireless target device(s) and said slave devicewhere said slave device has not connected to said external terminal; (h)selecting said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) forconnection; (i) defining connection options with said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s), including at least one automaticor manual connection option; and (j) executing a connection between saidslave device and said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s)based upon said at least one automatic or manual connection option; (k)determining whether said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) requires additional authentication, wherein said step ofdetermining whether said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) requires additional authentication including a recognition asto whether said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) is aclosed system device that prevents paging and inquiry from resulting ina complete connection; and (l) executing, where said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s) requires said additionalauthentication, an additional authentication between said slave deviceand said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s).
 5. Thedevice of claim 4 further comprising: wherein said step of determiningwhether said at least one neighboring wireless device(s) requires saidadditional authentication further comprises the step of detecting thepresence of enabled additional authentication in either hardware orsoftware found in said at least one wireless neighboring device(s);executing said additional authentication through at least one of thefollowing of an additional authentication chip or additionalauthentication software for providing additional authentication code tosaid at least one neighboring wireless device(s); and disabling saidadditional authentication where said presence of enabled additionalauthentication is not detected.
 6. The device of claim 4, furthercomprising the ability to execute the steps of: reading a MAC addressand PIN number from said at least one neighboring target wireless devicethrough the use of at least a barcode reader or an optical characterreader, wherein said step of reading further includes the step ofproviding for a prefix and suffix option that executes a read of atleast one beginning or at least one ending digit of a barcode serialnumber.
 7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium havingrecorded thereon a program read by a computer system for use on a slavewireless device for detecting and connecting with a neighboring wirelesstarget device(s) comprising: a first code segment for determiningwhether at least one slave device needs to connect to an externalterminal in order to perform a search and connect function of at leastone neighboring wireless target device(s); a second code segment forconnecting, when said at least one slave device needs to connect to anexternal terminal in order to perform a search and connect function ofsaid at least one neighboring wireless target device(s), to saidexternal terminal; a third code segment for determining whether there isa need to search for said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s); a fourth code segment for entering, when there is no need tosearch for said neighboring wireless target device(s), at least one ofthe following comprising a MAC address, PIN code and a device name ofsaid at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) manually; afifth code segment for generating, when there is a need to search forsaid at least one neighboring wireless target device, lists of availablesaid at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) at said externalterminal where said slave device and said external terminal areconnected, and generating lists of available said at least oneneighboring wireless target device(s) and said slave device where saidslave device has not connected to said external terminal; a sixth codesegment for selecting said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) for connection; a seventh code segment for defining connectionoptions with said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s),including at least one automatic or manual connection option; and aneighth code segment for executing a connection between said slave deviceand said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) based uponsaid at least one automatic or manual connection option a ninth codesegment for determining whether said at least one neighboring wirelesstarget device(s) requires additional authentication, wherein said stepof determining whether said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s) requires additional authentication including a recognition asto whether said at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) is aclosed system device that prevents paging and inquiry from resulting ina complete connection; and a tenth code segment for executing, wheresaid at least one neighboring wireless target device(s) requires saidadditional authentication, an additional authentication between saidslave device and said at least one neighboring wireless targetdevice(s).
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumhaving recorded thereon a program read by a computer system for use on aslave wireless device for detecting and connecting with a neighboringwireless target device(s) of claim 7, further comprising: said ninth acode segment for determining whether said at least one neighboringwireless target device(s) requires additional authentication furthercomprises code for detecting the presence of enabled additionalauthentication in either hardware or software found in said at least onewireless neighboring device(s); an eleventh code segment for controllingany existing additional authentication chip and for providing, wherethere is no said additional authentication chip, additionalauthentication code to said at least one neighboring wireless device(s);a twelfth code segment for executing said additional authentication byproviding additional authentication code to said at least oneneighboring wireless device(s); and a thirteenth code segment fordisabling said additional authentication where said presence of enabledadditional authentication is not detected.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a programread by a computer system for use on a slave wireless device fordetecting and connecting with a neighboring wireless target device(s) ofclaim 8, further comprising: a fourteenth code segment for reading a MACaddress and PIN number from said at least one neighboring targetwireless device through the use of at least a barcode reader or anoptical character reader, wherein said fourteenth code segment furtherincludes a fifteenth code segment for providing for a prefix and suffixoption that executes a read of at least one beginning or at least oneending digit of a barcode serial number.